The World's Number One Medical Hall

Chapter 640 Whose People Are They?

The cuckoo only stayed briefly before departing.

After she left, Mo Bai fell into deep thought.

Lu Xunyi chimed in, "Mr. Du's concerns are not without merit. Qu Guochang is indeed a hidden danger. Fortunately, no problems have arisen yet. It's not too late to eliminate him now."

Mo Bai said, "It's too late."

"Is Your Highness worried that he has already leaked this matter to others?" Lu Xunyi asked.

Mo Bai nodded: "He would definitely do this to protect himself. As long as we make a move against him, his people will expose the news. Du Juan is right, it was my oversight. I should have killed him then and there, but it's too late now."

Lu Xunyi thought for a moment: "Perhaps it's not too late. We can capture him first and interrogate him..."

"Knowing that confessing means death, while not confessing might offer a way out, would you confess if you were in that situation?" Mo Bai shook his head, feeling that the chances were slim.

Lu Xunyi's expression froze, and he fell silent.

Mo Bai pondered for a moment and said, "Several days have passed since the palace coup. Since Qu Guochang hasn't acted immediately, it means he still has reservations and hasn't made up his mind. You don't need to worry too much. Don't alarm him for now. Don't worry about this matter. I'll figure out a way to handle it."

"yes!"

Mo Bai turned to look at him: "Our top priority now is the Imperial Guard and the Capital Garrison. As long as we control these two places, we can protect ourselves. Has Commander Wu given us a reply?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Xunyi quickly replied, "I was just about to report to Your Highness when Commander Wu replied that the guards are elite soldiers selected from various armies, responsible only to the royal family, and cannot be influenced by any single commander. The assistance Commander Wu can provide is extremely limited. Helping Your Highness open the city gates at this critical moment was already extremely risky. If Your Highness hadn't quickly taken control of the situation, Commander Wu would probably have already aroused the suspicion of the imperial court."

"If it weren't for the suddenness of the situation and having no other choice, I wouldn't have used the people lying in ambush at the city gate." Upon hearing this, Mo Bai's expression hardened slightly, and he nodded.

"We painstakingly laid ambushes in front of the palace gates to ensure that Your Highness has a way out in times of crisis and that you are safe and sound. Even if we expose Commander Wu, it will be worth it," Lu Xunyi said in a deep voice.

Mo Bai remained silent. In fact, back when the late emperor was still alive and Mo Bai returned to the capital, the Ming Prince's Mansion had already made many preparations.

At the city gate of the capital, Wu Shoucheng, a former personal guard of Fang Youqun, was acting as an inside agent.

Inside the palace, they dared not be careless. Commander Wu had arranged for imperial guards to act as spies, ready to help Mo Bai escape from the palace at any time.

Outsiders all think Mo Bai is incredibly bold, but without sufficient arrangements in secret, how could Mo Bai dare to run rampant everywhere?

"So, does that mean we're destined to lose control of the Imperial Guard?" Mo Bai frowned.

"Commander Wu means that the chances of completely controlling the situation are slim. However, if Your Highness can win over Prince De and make him your own, you might be able to influence the Imperial Guards for a short time at a crucial moment when the outcome is decided," Lu Xunyi said.

"Prince De?" Mo Bai was somewhat surprised: "Prince De is not involved in military power. The Imperial Guards had placed him under martial law before. Prince De should not be able to control the Imperial Guards. On the other hand, Hu Qingyan was still able to move around in the palace when the Imperial Guards were under martial law, and was eventually able to invite the Empress Dowager out."

"Your Highness may not know this, but although the Imperial Guards come from various factions within the military and are composed of diverse individuals, they have always been commanded by members of the royal family trusted by His Majesty. The current commander of the Imperial Guards, General Mo Beichuan, was originally just a son of a concubine from the Ningfeng Prince's household, and his status within the imperial clan was not high. When His Majesty was selecting a commander for the Imperial Guards, his chances were initially slim. It was only after Prince De strongly recommended him that the late Emperor appointed him. Prince De has shown him great favor, and if we could get Prince De's help, it might be able to play a crucial role at a critical moment," Lu Xunyi explained.

"I never expected there to be such a part!" Mo Bai had never heard of this before.

"According to Commander Wu, he knew about this matter back when the late emperor was considering it and had asked for his opinion. At that time, he casually mentioned that Prince De thought highly of Mo Beichuan. Not many people should know about this. Only Zhang Bangli in the palace should know, and even the new emperor may not know," Lu Xunyi said.

Mo Bai nodded and pondered for a moment.

If what Wu Shuai said is true, then we really have to work on Prince De. However, Mo Bai is unsure what Prince De's attitude will be.

Since the late emperor passed away, Prince De has not targeted Prince Ming's mansion. However, Mo Bai understands that this is only because Prince De is considering the authority of the royal family and hopes to use him to help the new emperor suppress Hu Qing'an and Qu Guochang, and prevent them from bullying the young master and abusing their power.

If Mo Bai were to ask him to support his rebellion, he felt that from the perspective of the Prince of De, unless he was forced to, he would probably never risk the wrath of the world to help him do such a thing.

While Mo Bai was pondering, Lu Xunyi spoke up again: "The Imperial Guard is difficult to deal with, but the Capital Garrison has a solution."

"What do you mean?" Mo Bai asked immediately upon hearing this.

"The fighting strength of the Capital Garrison is incomparable to that of the Imperial Guards, and is even the opposite. The Imperial Guards are all elites, while the Capital Garrison is mostly filled with sons of powerful and wealthy families. During the reign of the late emperor, he ordered Commander Fang to transfer a group of soldiers to fill the Capital Garrison in an attempt to reorganize it. If we can gain Commander Fang's support, and with the help of Commander Wu, we can control at least 30% of the Capital Garrison's troops, and that will be the 30% of the most capable soldiers in the Capital Garrison." Lu Xunyi's face showed a hint of excitement.

"Fang Youqun..." Mo Bai was not as relaxed as Lu Xunyi; Fang Youqun was not an easy nut to crack.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Mo Bai has been sending people to protect Fang Youqun and showing him goodwill. To think that you can win Fang Youqun over based on this is to underestimate him.

Having a direction is always better than having no direction at all.

"Alright, next we'll focus on Prince De and Fang Youqun. I'll have to find an opportunity to deal with Prince De myself. As for Fang Youqun, after all that's happened recently, I'm not sure about his attitude. Send a message to Du Juan and tell her to keep a close eye on the situation with Commander Fang this time," Mo Bai said.

"Yes!" Lu Xunyi accepted the order.

Mo Bai stood up: "We can't let the warlords stay idle like this, keeping a close eye on us. We need to keep them busy. I'm going to the palace. It's time for the Ninth Prince to ascend the throne."

Having said that, he turned and left the Ming Prince's Mansion, heading towards the palace.

From the outside, nothing in the palace has changed, and Mo Bai still enters the palace according to the rules.

The Ninth Prince was still sitting in the Imperial Study, discussing state affairs with his court officials.

Mo Bai did not go to the Imperial Study first, but went to see Yu Qing first.

The two sat down. Yuqing was quite surprised by Mobai's purpose in coming and frowned slightly as she asked, "Qu Guochang?"

"That's right, this person is a hidden danger and cannot be allowed to live. However, I cannot be sure whether he has made any preparations in advance, so we must take some measures to uncover his backup plan before we can take action against him," Mo Bai nodded.

"This..." Yuqing hesitated, "If Your Highness wants me to get rid of him, I can try my best, but I'm afraid I'm powerless to uncover his backup plan."

Mo Bai glanced at him: "Master, when Ninth Prince attacked me before, he didn't show any mercy to Lian Zun either. When Ninth Prince was assassinated, it was you who stopped me. Now that things have come to this, we're all in the same boat. If I lose, how will you fare?"

Upon hearing this, Yuqing's face darkened immediately, and even with his temperament, he wanted to curse out loud.

They are in such a passive position because of whom? Isn't it all because the enlightened king lured them into this trap step by step?

And now you're still making sarcastic remarks here, you're truly inhuman.

But he couldn't vent his anger, so he could only suppress it: "This old Taoist isn't making excuses, it's just that I really don't know what to do. Even His Highness can't do anything about him, so what can this old Taoist do?"

"Don't worry, I won't put you in a difficult position. I'll think of a solution for you," Mo Bai said with a smile.

If you have a solution, why don't you do it yourself? Why come to me?

Yuqing wasn't stupid; she knew perfectly well that the Ming King simply wanted them to be trapped deep enough, and was dragging them step by step down the wrong path until they could never escape.

Seeing that he remained silent, Mo Bai disregarded his mood and said in a deep voice, "You have been in charge of the Daoist sect for many years and must know the powerful and influential people in the capital. Are there any guards in Qu Guochang's residence that you can influence?"

"No, the security forces around ministers like Qu Guochang are all protected by the Imperial Guard of the State." Yuqing answered without hesitation. He, Yuqing Mountain, truly had no one assigned to Qu Guochang's side. Even if there were, he would say no.

He would only admit it if he were completely out of his mind.

"Your Excellency's words are not very good. It is true that they have internal guards protecting them, but in the mansions of such powerful and wealthy families, which one does not support one or two Grandmasters as confidants? Do you think I do not know that a large part of these Grandmasters supported by the powerful and wealthy are deliberately placed by your Daoist sect to be by their side? As for your purpose in doing so, do I need to continue to explain?" Mo Bai's face darkened.

Upon hearing this, Yuqing could only smile wryly and say, "This old Taoist admits that there are indeed some spies lurking in the capital. But there are indeed no people from Yuqing Mountain in the Duke of Qu's mansion. When the late emperor was alive, although the Duke of Qu was the emperor's father-in-law and held the position of Duke, the late emperor was always very wary of relatives of the empress. In fact, the Duke of Qu did not have much real power, so we naturally had no need to befriend him."

"Heh... even the real man has learned to joke. Duke Qu didn't have much real power back then, but he was the maternal grandfather of the Ninth Prince. The late Emperor always favored Consort Lan and doted on the Ninth Prince. Although Duke Qu didn't have much real power, his influence was never small. I don't believe you will let him go." How could Mo Bai be fooled by him?

Yuqing shook his head: "Your Highness, this old Taoist priest is not speaking recklessly. The Taoist sect is not solely controlled by Yuqing Mountain, and it is impossible for Yuqing Mountain to be on good terms with all important officials. There are truly no people from Yuqing Mountain on the side of Duke Qu."

"Whose people are they?" Mo Bai frowned.